Edmund De Wind VC to be commemorated by Comber

The valour and self-sacrifice of Second Lieutenant Edmund De Wind VC is to be honoured by his home town of Comber, with the launch of the Edmund de Wind Memorial Fund.

Edmund De Wind VC Centenary Committee has invited Dr Ian Moles, Lisbane to host the launch event.Keynote speakers Keith Haines, formally Chief Archivist of Campbell College and Desmond Rainey, Comber Historical Society will provide a historical insight of de Wind and the Great. War.Displays of First World War Memorabilia and historic photographs of Comber will also be available.

The launch will take place on Thursday 23 March 2017 at 8.00pm at Comber Recreation Football Club, Parkway.

As a tribute to this valiant soldier, the committee plan a year-long programme which will culminate in the unveiling of an Edmund De Wind memorial in the memorial gardens in Comber Square on the centenary anniversary of his death on the battlefield in the Great War.

Edmund De Wind was born in Comber on 11 December 1883. He was educated at Campbell College and later immigrated to Canada after working in the Bank of Ireland in Cavan. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, serving in France with the Machine Gun Section; however later he obtained a commission with the 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.

Second Lieutenant Edmund De Wind was killed in action on 21 March 1918, aged 34 year, at Grugies St Quentin, defending the Race Course Redoubt for seven hours almost single-handed until he was fatally wounded. He was awarded the VC for his valour and self-sacrifice.

After the Great War a German Gun was presented to Comber and placed in the Square as a memorial to him. Sadly this gun was removed to provide scrap metal during the Second World War. Edmund De Wind VC Centenary Committee plan to create a fitting tribute to this local hero. The Committee invites those with an interest in history and the Great War to come along to the launch and find out more.